Hampton Subway Newsletter Week of Sept. 28–Oct. 4, 2012

Famous riders, delicious sandwiches and an antique discovery this week on the Hampton Subway.

Week of September 28 – October 4, 2012

Riders this past week: 13,112

Rider miles this past week: 89,843

DOWN IN THE TUBE

Seen on the Hampton Subway this past week were columnists Liz Smith, who was scribbling something while riding from Wainscott to East Hampton, and Cindy Adams, who was also scribbling but while riding between Bridgehampton and Sag Harbor.

NEW SANDWICH NAME CHANGE

Subway, the restaurant, which has all the little food concessions on the 14 platforms in our system, has decided to change the name of the new sandwich they came out with last week. It was originally named “The Hampton Subway” but this was soon to be found very confusing— for instance, I ordered a Hampton Subway, or I took a bite out of Hampton Subway. So they are changing the name to Ivan Kratz, who founded the Hampton Subway in 1931. The Ivan Kratz is still the same as the Hampton Subway. It is ham and cheese with mayonnaise and a gherkin pickle sliced in half on a bagel.

NEW SIGNAGE

After much urging, the State of New York has agreed to put signs up noting the existence of the Hampton Subway entrances. For budgetary reasons, however, these signs will have another message on them since that will save some metal. The signs will read EVACUATION ROUTE on the top and HAMPTON SUBWAY below with an arrow pointing the way. This could cause some confusion because EVACUATION ROUTE refers to the roads that lead west and are best used to get off the East End in an emergency. Unfortunately, Hampton Subway gets no farther west than Westhampton Beach. So it’s not an evacuation route. Oh well. As our commissioner says, half a loaf is better than none.

BIRTHDAY

Today is the birthday of Alice Washington, who worked here for a few weeks last fall as one of our many marketing publication directors before getting fired. She is still on our list of birthday people, but she should have been taken off. This is an oversight. There will be no party with cake and candles for her in the company cafeteria in our Hampton Bays office building. Please don’t come expecting anything.

ANTIQUE SUBWAY CAR FOUND

An 80-year-old subway car has been found on the Hampton Subway system in one of the storerooms underground between the East Hampton and Amagansett stops. Its date of manufacture, 1928, is on the plaque on the front right above the name of its manufacturer, which is (was) the Calhoun Subway Car, Zephyr and Dirigible Mfg. Co., Dayton, Ohio. In the car’s window is the information “D – Brooklyn Bridge.” It’s the D train from the Lexington Avenue line that has somehow got out here to Hampton Subway. Historians speculate that in 1931 when Ivan Kratz, the founder of Hampton Subway, brought illegally gotten subway construction material out to the Hamptons to build this place, he also brought with him a New York City subway car from the Lex Line. Why is not known. But here it is.

COMMISSIONER ASPINALL’S MESSAGE

The locating of a dusty, cobwebbed, antique subway car is very exciting to me. This is from the days when subway cars were just getting started. It has historic value. As soon as we get it cleaned up, we hope to have that storeroom underground made into a display place for this subway car, a museum, if you will. On certain occasions our subway cars will stop at the entrance to this storeroom halfway between East Hampton and Amagansett, so people can see what one of these things looks like.